Exploring the World of Craft Meat
How to Grill Frozen Patties
November 21st, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 5,483 times • less than one min read
You can save time and enjoy perfect hamburgers by grilling frozen patties. There’s no easier way to prepare great hamburgers every time than starting with premium patties and grilling straight from frozen. Prep the Patties Grab the patties right out of your freezer. Cut open the pack and use a sturdy grilling spatula to carefully split them apart. Remove any paper separators. Season the burgers lightly with salt and pepper. Note: thawing for...
Can I cook frozen steaks without thawing? You can (and you should)!
November 20th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 60,297 times • 1 min read
Wondering whether to let those frozen steaks thaw or cook them straight from frozen? You're not the only one! We get this question a lot. You should cook your steak directly from frozen, every time. It's just better. That's our personal take after preparing countless steaks ourselves -- but don't take our word for it. Cook's Illustrated senior editor Dan Souza did an experiment with 8 frozen New York Strip steaks, cooking half straight from...
We're working with a new grass-finished farm in the Western Catskills
November 7th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 4,571 times • 1 min read
At Slope Farms in New York’s Western Catskills, Ken and Linda Jaffe are raising 100% grass-fed, grass-finished beef on hilly, ridge-top pastures that like much of the land in New England is ideally suited for grazing healthy and happy cattle. Their farm divides the waters flowing into Deleware and Susquehanna Rivers, and grows a mix of lush grasses during the damp summers and cold winters. Ken farms in a way that allows grassland ecosystems...
Why is "Kobe Beef" so famous?
November 7th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 90,172 times • 8 min read
And what are you missing out on if it's the only brand of Japanese beef you know? The term “Kobe Beef” is one of the most famous — almost mythical -- terms in the world of food. It’s also one of the most misunderstood and misused. Outside of Japan, the phrase “Kobe Beef” has become almost synonymous with “Japanese beef” or “Wagyu”, but it's not that simple. Let's break it down. Wagyu = "Japanese beef" Wagyu is just a word that means “Japanese...
Japan Holds a “Best Beef Olympics” Every Five Years - Guess who won this year?
November 7th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 30,390 times • 1 min read
It's the Olympic Games you've never heard of. Since 1966, Japan's beef industry has held a nationwide competition every five years to crown the best beef in the country. It's called Zenkoku Wagyu Noryku Kyoshin-kai (全国和牛能力共進会) but it's known also as "The Wagyu Olympics." There are 11 prize categories, one of the more interesting of which measures the quality of the fats (looking for things like the health-promoting and umami-generating oleic...
Top Japanese Chef Reveals How to Cook A5 Kobe Beef
November 6th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 99,279 times • 1 min read
Recently I had the privilege of spending time with one of Japan's top Kobe Beef chefs, Mitsuo Yamamoto of Steak Sakura (2-11-14 Sennichimae, Chuo-ku Namba Daiichi Bldg. 1F, Osaka) to learn how to properly grill Kobe Beef and other A5 Wagyu (as you probably know by now, there are many types of A5 Wagyu, and Kobe is only one of them). I flew into Osaka, and Chef Yamamoto opened his restaurant early so we could cook. We walked together into the...
Introducing Wolfe Brothers Farm: Raising Angus beef on heritage grains
October 27th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 13,241 times • 2 min read
Kris and Tony Wolfe are the two brothers behind Wolfe Brothers Farms, a grass-fed, grain-finished cattle farm on the border of Pennsylvania and New York. Their pasture-based farming practice is built on a core philosophy: We simply say, 'Do unto others as you’d have them do to you.' It’s exactly the same with dirt and cows. We are blessed as we nurture and care for the land and animals that we are responsible for here on this Earth." - Kris...
Tips for Preparing the Perfect Turkey
October 16th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 3,874 times • less than one min read
We talked to Chef Daniel Orr, chef-owner of FARMbloomington Restaurant in Bloomington, Indiana and co-host of Earth Eats, for tips on cooking a delicious turkey at home this Thanksgiving. Below are his sage pointers. Photo credit: Farmbloomington Restaurant Brining is Key! Brining consists of soaking the turkey in liquid, sugar, and salt. The turkey then absorbs the moisture, making is less likely to get overly dry. There are no set amount of...
Happy turkeys for a happy Thanksgiving
October 11th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 11,046 times • 2 min read
UPDATE: Our Turkey Sale is live! Get yours now! Limited supply and limited time offer! On Sunday, October 15th at 8:00am PST, our Thanksgiving Presale of pasture-raised turkeys from Gunthorp Farms goes live! We expect to run out of turkeys quickly, so you'll want to claim yours before they're all gobbled up (sorry, couldn't resist). The turkeys will ship to your door in time for Thanksgiving. Each year, Greg and Lei Gunthorp raise...
Delmonico's, the oldest steakhouse in America, on the future of beef
October 6th, 2017 by Joe Heitzeberg • Read 13,339 times • 2 min read
With the suburban ubiquity of steakhouse chains like Longhorn Steakhouse, Texas Roadhouse, and Outback, you’d think the steakhouse restaurant had been a fixture of the American food scene since the Mayflower bumped up against the rocky New England coastline four centuries ago. But it wasn't until 1837 that America's first steakhouse, Delmonico’s, opened its doors. And not only was Delmonico's the first American steakhouse, the classic...
